Alberto Dainese wins Stage 19 as crash denies Kaden Groves shot at hat-trick, Sepp Kuss remains in red

ByFelix Lowe

Updated 15/09/2023 at 18:51 GMT

Alberto Dainese avoided a big crash with one kilometre remaining to power past compatriot Filippo Ganna and win a hectic bunch sprint finale to Stage 19 of the Vuelta a Espana. Race leader Sepp Kuss emerged unscathed to retain the red jersey but Australian sprinter Kaden Groves was caught up in the melee and unable to contest for a third sprint win.

A crash inadvertently caused by Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Tobias Bayer ended team-mate Kaden Groves’ hopes of contesting for a hat-trick of wins in the Vuelta a Espana as Italy’s Alberto Dainese (Team dsm-firmenich) avoided the carnage to sprint to victory on Stage 19 in Iscar.

Dainese lost much of his sprint train as two of his team-mates – Chris Hamilton and Sean Flynn – hit the deck at speed alongside Bayer, causing Groves to take evasive action. The Australian managed to unclip from his pedals and nimbly jump off his bike to avoid disaster – but the incident ended his hopes of a third win or any extra green jersey points.

Despite a setback that also saw him lose British team-mate Max Poole, Dainese kept his cool before timing his sprint to perfection to power past compatriot Filippo Ganne (Ineos Grenadiers) on the home straight. Dutchman Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) took third place ahead of Italy’s Davide Cimolai (Cofidis) and Spain’s Ivan Garcia (Movistar).

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Ineos Grenadiers had set out their stall early by sending three riders to the front to place Ganna on the nose of the peloton entering the closing moments of the 177km stage from La Beneza in central Spain.

Ganna was moving up past Bayer when the Austrian looked over his right shoulder and veered slightly to his left, clipping the handlebars of an EF Education-EasyPost rider bringing Van den Berg into position ahead of the flamme rouge.

Italian powerhouse Ganna – winner of the race’s only individual time trial – then used his TT strengths by going hard and fast into the wind on the long home straight – but was just pipped to the line by a resurgent Dainese, mirroring his fate when he gave Groves a run for his money on Stage 5.

Dainese’s win was greeted by wild celebrations by his bloodied team-mates Flynn, Hamilton and Poole as they picked themselves off the ground following the crash. It was only the sixth win of the career of a 25-year-old who has looked bereft of form and confidence in this Vuelta.

“It was really unlucky to lose a couple of guys in the crash but until that point I was in the perfect position and where I wanted to be,” said Dainese, who is set to join Tudor Pro Cycling at the end of the season.

“I knew there was a big headwind so I let Ganna and the other guys go a bit earlier while I was waiting for my moment. I’m super happy to finish a hard Vuelta in this way. I really wanted to end the season and my adventure with dsm in a good way.

“Obviously, this feels really special because of that. Today I felt a lot of pressure because I knew it was one of the last opportunities, and I want to say thanks to all the team for doing a great job.”

Race leader Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) chalked off another day in the red jersey as he edges closer to the heady prospect of a maiden Grand Tour triumph ahead of team-mates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic.

“I haven’t entered into those emotions yet. I’m just trying to focus on what I can control and not think too much about the end result,” Kuss said before the stage. The American will enter Saturday’s hilly test with a 17-second lead over the two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard, who has voiced his desire to see his mountain domestique Kuss take the overall win in Madrid.

'I realise how special an opportunity it is' - Kuss on Vuelta title hopes ahead of Stage 19

• Vuelta a Espana Stage 19 recap: Dainese avoids crash to pip Ganna to win

A stage that always seemed destined to end with a bunch sprint saw a break of four riders go clear early on. Paul Lapeira (AG2R Citroen), Mathis Le Berre (Arkea Samsic), Clement Davy (Groupama-FDJ) and Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) established a maximum gap of around two minutes but were never let off the leash by Groves’ Alpecin-Deceuninck team, who controlled the chase for much of the afternoon.

Playing out on flat and straight exposed roads in the barren Castile and Leon region of central Spain, it was a route which could have been spiced up only by a fair amount of bluster. But the blades of the numerous roadside wind turbines remained near-to-stationary, ending any chances of some crosswind chaos or echelon action.

The break was ultimately reeled in with 20km remaining with Frenchman Davy just holding on to win the intermediate sprint ahead of Groves, who was at least able to extend his green jersey lead over Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) to 53 points before being taken out of the equation at the last.

A late solo effort from Samuele Battistella (Astana-Qazaqstan) came after the Italian exploited a slight lull following the intermediate sprint to enjoy a brief foray off the front. But the race was back together with 10km remaining as the jostling for positions began in earnest.

Ineos Grenadiers had set out their stall early on with Geraint Thomas, Jonathan Castroviejo and Kim Heiduk all coming to the front to give their man Ganna a magic carpet ride to the finish. But while Ganna was able to avoid the crash that took out Bayer and Flynn, and derailed Groves’ hopes, he did not have enough zip to deny compatriot Dainese an emotional win.

Groves relieved to avoid injury in late crash on Stage 19 of Vuelta

It was not until Frenchman Roman Bardet crossed the line for 84th place that Dainese had a team-mate to celebrate with – a sign of the massive personal effort the Italian sprinter had to make in snaring his maiden Vuelta win.

Dainese’s victory was the second of the race for dsm-firmenich following the team’s victory in the opening team time trial in Barcelona.

The focus now shifts back to the battle for red with the penultimate day’s Stage 20 that features no fewer than 10 third-category climbs in a leg-sapping 208km between Manzanares el Real and Guadarrama.

It will be an intriguing final test of Kuss’s red jersey credentials as well as the loyalty of his superstar team-mates Vingegaard and Roglic – the reigning Tour and Giro champions respectively who now find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being at the service to their usual climbing lieutenant.

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